I’m stuck somewhere in the middle of the react tutorials. My brain just refuses to even try to understand what I’m reading. I can’t even get myself to watch coding videos. My motivation has sunk. I have some side projects that I need to do to support myself but I just can get myself to finish them.

I think I’m going through a textbook case of burnout. Happens every few months. It just sucks. The more I try to push through the less I want to code.

Hey mate, trust me - this happened to me when I was in my career change.

It simply sucks!

But I can give you some tips which worked for me.
I simply took a long break from the usual stuffs and went to do which made me ALIVE and HAPPY!
After that, I returned back to what I was struggling and now, I am not struggling that much.

If you are pushing too much, take a break for a bit. How about a week? or unless untill you feel like coming back to it? I honestly think that if you push hard , your brain gets tired sometimes. Like you said " The most I try to push through the less I want to code." This is happening because you need rest. I am glad you posted it here, as it helps to ahve support i this situation.

Yes, it happens to me, I have been working on side projects and learning to code, other responsibilities. It happens to everyone. So I have strated taking it slowly, I am learning Vue at the moment and going through FCC Javascript challenges.

Hey, I’m similarly feeling something around that area in the curriculum as well. Could it be possible that the way FCC has the lessons designed is contributing to the sensation that you (and me) are unable to absorb the info as it is? That is, that perhaps the react section in particular would best be studied with an alternate course in addition? Just some thoughts…

There comes a time when you build things to learn something. Then there comes a point where you build things because you need a solution.

I think you come as far as you no longer need to build things because you are solely learning.

The best suggestion I have is to close the laptop, and reclaim that time spent programming. Pick up an old hobby, get outside and run before this Indian summer ends (no joke, after October 13th, it will be super cold!)

Then when you’re faced with a problem or someone you know is faced with a problem, you’ll know that you have the toolset to fix said problem through code.

One thing I like to do when I start to feel stuck or uninterested is to work on something that no one else will see, just to fool around. Not necessarily with a new framework I’m trying to learn, but rather with something I already know just building something for fun.

Also, in relation to the react and redux sections of FCC: take it slow and use supplemental resources. I personally don’t think I could have learned react well with the FCC challenges alone, not saying it can’t be done but it would be challenging. It’s a much tougher topic than the earlier ones in the FCC curriculum so also bear in mind it will likely take much longer to learn.

There’s a decent podcast episode that goes over other effective strategies for preventing/dealing with burnout from Syntax.fm:syntax.fm

Full Stack Developers Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski dive deep into web development topics, explaining how they work and talking about their own experiences. They cover from JavaScript frameworks like React, to the latest advancements in CSS to...